Hockey fans in Vancouver were justifiably excited to see the blue and green back in action tonight. Coming off of a nine-day break, the Canucks were in Denver for their second meeting with the Avalanche this season, and it would prove to be a highly positive night overall for most of the team.

The Canucks went into the break with a 2-1 record in their last three games, but the reality is they were pretty awful in all three. Inexcusably poor starts and low effort levels were, in hindsight, signs of general fatigue. A sizeable break was exactly what the players needed.

The roster notes were provided by Jeff Paterson via Twitter, as usual:

A lot of people out there were relieved to see Nikolay Goldobin finally back in the lineup, and included in that group is most definitely Goldobin himself. There’s going to be a huge spotlight on him over the next handful of games to see how he reacts to the tough love he’s been getting from the coach. Tonight was definitely a good start.

This is clearly the biggest sporting event of the weekend (right?), so let’s get going!

There are few better ways to start a game than a Shotgun Jake goal. The poor guy hadn’t scored since that December 20th game against St. Louis. Fresh from what was surely a nice, quiet vacation in Cabo, Virtanen started what ended up being an awesome comeback game for him by putting the team up on the board early. A bad pinch by the Colorado defence created an opening for him to get his feet moving, and boy did he:

This is exactly the sort of goal the Canucks want to see Virtanen scoring. He sees an opportunity, jumps on it, and drives straight to the net with speed. Good for Jake. Maybe don’t take Dry January so seriously next year, though.

Despite the early goal, both teams had a highly energetic start to the game. Both teams were obviously aware of the playoff implications given their position in the standings relative to each other. The Canucks desperately needed to break their pre-vacation habit of waiting until games were already halfway done to get going, so this was an encouraging sign that concerns of post-vacation rust were unnecessary.

A great series of individual moments from Canucks players followed, including a great save made by Jacob Markstrom under pressure from Sheldon Dries, a Sven Baertschi breakaway scoring chance, and Virtanen continuing to do excellent work right in front of the net. It culminated in a lightning-fast goal by Brock Boeser immediately off of a Pettersson face off win:

Bang. From down on one knee, right off the bar and down over the shoulder of Semyon Varlamov. The high pace continued throughout the period, and really would carry on for most of the game. Pettersson and Boeser were prowling around Colorado’s end, looking very aggressive and dangerous.

It’s worth noting that, despite the team in general playing really well, Gudbranson and Pouliot continue to be… Gudbranson and Pouliot. Pouliot continued to “endear” himself to fans by making a particularly ugly pass from behind his own net. Had Pettersson not expertly received the pass and quickly moved it away, there was a real opportunity for Colorado to take advantage of a dangerous mistake and claw back into the game.

Pettersson’s best moment came with just over 3 minutes left in the period, where he… uh, you know what? Just watch:

That is some unreal stick work. The period would end with Colorado on the power play after Alex Edler was given a penalty for interference, but good defensive play and great goaltending by Jacob Markstrom kept the score 2-0 going into the first intermission.

Colorado clearly wanted the 1st period to end so they could have a chance to hit the pause button and reset. When the 2nd frame started, they came out strong. Their strategy was obviously to focus as much on Markstrom as possible. They were aggressive around the net and did everything they could to create traffic right in front. Gudbranson even did a little of his “famous” crease-clearing when Gabriel Bourque took a wack at Markstrom’s pads after a whistle. No penalties were handed out, but there was a moment where it really looked like we could have a fight on our hands. Good for Gudbranson, but it was, unfortunately, his only bright moment in this game.

As the period went on, the Avs continued their aggressive play. They were pushing hard to steal back momentum, which resulted in Edler taking his second interference penalty of the game. It wouldn’t matter much, as the Canucks continued their excellent defensive play and Loui Eriksson of all people even had a grade-A scoring chance with a shorthanded breakaway:

Varlamov had no idea where the puck was, but had the presence of mind as he slid back to turn himself sideways to keep his pads out of the net. There’s no way to call it a goal without definite proof the puck crosses the line, but he was smart not to take chances considering how his team was playing in front of him. This was a huge save, and fans started to boo shortly after the penalty expired, leaving the Avalanche 0/2 on the power play. It didn’t get better when Roussel later snapped home a pass from Horvat right on Varlamov’s front porch:

Halfway through the period, Matt Calvert finally got Colorado on the scoreboard:

…but any boost that gave the Avs was lost when Tyler Motte responded only a few minutes later:

The period would end 4-1 for Vancouver, and oddly enough again with a Canuck in the penalty box. Virtanen took a questionable penalty for holding the stick, but luckily the second intermission arrived without anything more than a decent scoring chance by Gabriel Landeskog to show for it.

The Avalanche once again came out strong to start the period, but once again also came up short with the man advantage. It’s a real problem for the Avs offensively when that top line isn’t clicking.

After a relatively strong second push from Colorado, a slightly alarming thing happened:

I don’t know what it’s like to be Derrick Pouliot these days, but it can’t be good. In fact, it probably feels an awful lot like Brock Boeser’s hand there. Yikes. The only positive thing that came out of that was the frankly adorable sight of Pettersson carefully icing Boeser’s hand for him back on the bench:

That’s some Disney movie level stuff, right there. Adorbs.

The Canucks finally got their first power play of the game at the 4:30 mark when Carl Soderberg interfered with Alex Edler, but nothing would come of it. There was a lot of continuous action back and forth throughout the middle frame until Matt Calvert would give them another chance for high sticking Bo Horvat. This would set the night up for what is probably it’s biggest moment:

That’s right. GOALdobin. Wide open, great shot high short side. The player the coach is at his wit’s end with. The player who doesn’t work hard enough. The player who can’t get into a lineup where Tim freakin’ Schaller has managed to play 34 games and has only 5 assists to show for it.

Honestly, I feel really happy for Goldy. He sat for what must have seemed like forever to him. He took all of the criticism and all of the flak, and when his opportunity came he had an awesome game and scored himself an awesome goal. I mentioned earlier how I was interested in how he would react to the tough love approach. As a player who not many think reacts well to that sort of approach, you have to give him credit for ponying up when he got his chance again. It’s only one game, and like Virtanen before him, we have to be careful of going too crazy over one game. He’s still going to be under the microscope for the next week or two as everyone watches intently, waiting to see what he’ll do.

He’s not done. But it’s a start. And that’s a great first step towards redemption.

The Avalanche definitely brought their A-game tonight. The effort was real. They finished with 35 shots, and it wasn’t enough. How many of those shots actually threatened the Canucks? They also, oddly, wildly outhit the Canucks 32 to 16. What failed them was their lack of execution on the power play, which went 0/3, and their lack of scoring depth 5 on 5. Shots are great, but the team just lacks finishers beyond the big line.

On Vancouver’s side, Virtanen, Goldobin, and Markstrom all stood out as having great games. Virtanen was fast and went to the net. Goldobin looked perfectly in place playing alongside Pettersson and Boeser again. And Markstrom has, surprisingly to me, continued his fantastic play. I’m still not sure if his incredible play lately is anything more than a really great hot streak, but to come back from a nine-day absence and post a .971 save percentage is pretty nuts. Particularly considering his tendency for the longest time to start games by letting in weak goals and putting the team down early.

Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson both looked sharp all night, and Ben Hutton was a standout as well with 22:40 in ice time. All great signs. Everyone had energy and looked refreshed. Even Sutter had a good game. No, really! He legitimately had a handful of good scoring chances, and best of all didn’t handicap Virtanen when he wanted to use his speed.

All in all, this was an overwhelmingly positive night for the Vancouver Canucks. Almost everyone on the team had a big night, and I’m sure they’ll be feeling good about themselves as they head to Philly tomorrow to take on the Flyers.